Stock feed dispensing apparatus



Feb. 11, 1958 L. L. JOHNSON 2,822,957

STOCK FEED DISPENSING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 27,1956

Q Lloyd L. Johnson INVENTOR.

United States Patent STOCK FEED DISPENSING APPARATUS Lloyd L. Johnson, Elmore City, Okla. Application February 27, 1956, Serial No. 567,934

3 Claims. (Cl. 222-176) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in stock feeders for feeding cattle from a moving truck on an open range.

It is customary in winter to supplement the natural food of cattle on an open range with a commercially processed food in concentrated cube form and to scatter the cubes over the ground by hand from a bucket or other contalner. This method is time consuming, exposes the cattleman to bitter weather, and endangers him to the action of the cattle trying to reach the container for the food.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a hopper for dispensing the cubes from a moving truck, wagon or the like under control of the driver while seated 1n the safety of the cab or drivers seat.

Another object is to provide means for easily and' quickly mounting the hopper on the vehicle to avoid interference with the use of the vehicle for other purposes.

A further object is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efficient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purpose for which the same is intended.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a truck showing the dispensing hopper mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on a line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the door and discharge end of the spout for the hopper; and

Figure 4 is a side elevational view on a reduced scale and showing the hopper equipped with a foldable extension chute.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates a hopper having a hinged lid 6 at its upper end for loading the hopper and a spout 7 at its lower end. The spout is inclined outwardly toward one side of the hopper and tapers toward its lower open end. A chute or deflector 8 is secured to the lower end of the spout and is also inclined in the same direction as that of the spout to aid in discharging of the contents of the hopper in an outward direction. 4

A door 9 is hingedly connected to the top of the delivery end of the spout by a conventional hinge structure 10 for swinging vertically into an open or closed position and an arm 11 is welded or otherwise suitably secured to the door and extends upwardly therefrom over a pulley 13 which is supported on a bracket arm 14 attached to the spout and from the pulley the pull cord leads away from the hopper for controlling the door 9 from a remote position. A pair of coil springs 15 and 2,822,957 Patented Feb. 11, 1958 16 are attached at one end to the door and are attached at their outer ends to the opposite sides of the spout for closing the door;

A hook 17 is attached to the upper portion of the hopper for engaging the upper edge of the side ofan open truck body 18 or other vehicle and the pullcofd 12 extends into the cab 19 or to a position within convenient reach of the driver of the truck.

After loading the hopper with cubes of concentrated stock feed the truck is driven to a field or open range and by pulling the pull cord 12 the door 9 will be opened to discharge the feed onto the ground and while the truck remains moving to scatter the feed.

The hopper may be filled from the truck or from a supply outside the truck.

Figure 4 illustrates an extension chute or spout 20 pivoted to the hinge structure 10 by connector rods 21 for swinging the extension chute vertically from a lowered position underlying the spout 7 and chute 8, as shown by full lines, into a raised position, as shown by dotted lines. The extension chute is raised by a rope 22 attached thereto and leading therefrom upwardly over a pulley 23 to the cab 19 of the vehicle and the chute 20 is secured in its raised position by a hook 24 attached to the upper portion of the hopper.

The chute 20 extends outwardly and downwardly from the hopper 5 and chute 8 a suitable distance for depositing stock feed into a feed trough (not shown).

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination, a vehicle, and a stock feed dispensing mechanism supported on the body of the vehicle and comprising a hopper, 'a delivery spout extending in an outwardly inclined position at the lower portion of the hopper, a channel-shaped chute at the delivery end of the spout, a door hingedly connected to the upper edge of the spout and having its free end swingable inwardly and outwardly in the chute against the delivery end of the spout to close the latter, an arm extending upwardly at the hinged edge of the door, and remotely actuated cable and pulley means connected to the arm and to the spout for opening the door.

2. In combination, a vehicle, and a stock feed dispensing mechanism supported on the body of the vehicle and comprising a hopper, a delivery spout extending in an outwardly inclined position at the lower portion of the hopper, a chute fixed to the lower delivery end of the spout, a closure for the delivery end of the spout, remotely actuated means connected to the closure for opening the same, spring means closing the closure, a chute extension, means pivotally connecting the chute extension to the spout adjacent to and in registry with the delivery end of the fixed chute for vertical swinging movement into and out of registry therewith, and remotely actuated means connected to the chute extension for raising the same into an inactive position in front of the hopper and out of registry with the first named chute.

3. In combination, a vehicle, and a stock feed dispensing mechanism supported at the outside of the body of the vehicle and comprising a hopper, an outwardly inclined delivery spout at the lower end of the hopper, a door hingedly connected at its upper edge to the upper edge of the spout, a pair of coil springs connected at one end to the respective side edges of the door and said 3 springs being connected at their other ends to the adjacent sides of the hopper to equalize closing pressure at each side edge of the door, and remotely actuated means connected to the door for opening the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,321,395 Kirk June 8, 1943 4 Sterens June 19, 1951 Paparazzo et a1 Nov. 17, 1953 Wynn Apr. 20, 1954 Fox Dec. 27, 1955 Wynn Apr. 3, 1956 

